This grew out of a couple PMs where I wound up talking about this show, so here is the official Rome discussion thread.

My random thoughts:

*Not even one mention of Crassus? As I had always read it, his death, and the end of the First Triumvirate was the main instigator of the civil war.

*I like how they're mixing in some original latin. 'bona' for good, 'dominus' for 'my lord', 'domina' for 'my lady'.

*Octavian isn't just my favorite character on the show, I think he's my favorite character ever.

*What is it with guys slapping chicks here?

*It was cool how Atia let it slip that Marc Antony liked seeing her in 'eastern style' get up considering his future choice in women.

*I want Atia to have my abortion.

*So far we got one character in Rome played by an Italian, and he's a slave. Just once I'd like to see Romans or Greeks look like Romans or Greeks. Dark, swarthy, Mediterranean. I've seen the painting of Alexander the Great on his f a t her's tomb. Fucker looks more like a jew or an arab than a blonde irishman.

i like the show okay, but it definately needs more cowbell, i mean decadence.

for instance, what i most want to see is crazed pagan blood orgies of the damned, blood-curdling scenes of pointless imperialist wars, and mass murder. i guess this is where the show will go eventually.

basically i want CALIGULA: THE SERIES

btw, Mark Anthony is my favorite character so far because he is such a complete and utter bastard. he'll meet an ignominious end, i reckon.

I figured as much. One of my best friends is a retired Classics professor and I thought Troy was going to give him a coronary. He keeps asking me if this show is worth watching. I think I am going to tell him its shit just to save myself hours of "O NOES!"

Great show, the bit when they were talking about who was going to kill who if the brutes got inside was hilarious, it felt like Python. Titus is a badass, Octavian is a smart little fucker, if the show jumps forward a decade or so between seasons they need to get a good replacement. I really like this show, I'm going to watch the new episode tonight, I hope it has mucho milf mamaries, macabre madness & murder.

It should be on the Beeb at some point as they paid for some of it, although I think we would have to have a tamed down version or it will be shown too late at night to justify the cost to license payers. Full frontal Nudity & some acts of hardcore Violence don't go down well with the Daily Mail readers.

Thank god for this show. Now that Curbyourenthusiasm jumped the shark. There isn't much on HBO these days. Entourage is ok. I've only seen the Comic-con/Aquaf@g episode though. Fuck them for ripping into SD....we got the hottest chicks in California. And I've lived Santa Barbara in and LA.....fuckn' putz LA-writers

Adam Balm wrote:Yeah, I think I really am developing an unhealthy obsession with Atia. Marvel comics should write a comic about her, and call it ULTIMATE MILF.

I think we already did see a pagan blood orgy. (It was like in episode 2 where a goat was sacrified and all the blood fell down on Atia, and she was all orgasmic from it.)

lol! she is the ULTIMATE MILF.

and yeah! the pagan blood sacrifice was my favorite scene so far! i loved how she felt all at ease after wards too; as if the blood had washed away all badness. poifect. she has a really funny line then too, but i don't remember what it was...

anyways, needs more of that. also: more insanely bloody battles. looks like greece might be a hoot n' a hollar...

I know Pompey was on the run, and had fled to Greece, after having left Italy. So he's on the run, with Caesar having the upper hand. Yet in the time span of an episode, Caesar manages to lose like half his army and is "greatly outnumbered" (direct quote). Then in episode 7, Caesar manages to "win" forcing Pompey to flee to Egypt, splitting Cicero and Brutus from him?

How did Caesar manage to just like, over come the numbers game? between episodes 5-7 they'd sway back in forth who had the upper hand.

Pompey should have won but because Ceasars men had to Win or Die (no choice of retreat) and because of plain Bad Luck (Pompeys cavalry were spooked by Ceasars Men as they attacked & Ran back into Pompeys own men desimating their Flank). I love that you can see how the characters can attribute their Lives events to the will of the gods, like why Ceasar spared our two heroes.The scenes between Ceasar & Brutus were particularly good, lots of great Actors being discovered here.

BTW, next week we see the introduction of Cleopatra as Caesar decides who should rule Egypt, her or Ptolemy XIII. I say if previous episodes are any indicator, Caesar and Mark Antony will take turns slapping her around.

I was going to be pissed by the whole "Pullo just sits until coerced to fight," but then, somehow, it was pulled off just beautifully. I was upset with the character of Pullo last week, now all I can see is a broken, broken man.
Vorenus earned back his strips from me, even though you totally knew what was gonna happen.

Now, if Atia would just die a bloody, painful death, I might actually love this show.

i just started watching this show, and im aware that this thread contains spoilers, so ive only read a few of these posts. when i finally catch up ( im just starting episode 7) i will return to read all of these. but i had to come in here to say that the chicks that play Niobe and Atia like the hottest chicks on tv. man are they hot. they are so fucking hot that it feels like my cock is going to explode when i watch this show. i try to just get over it, but i cant. i have to watch this show alone for fear that i may actually mount my television.
can i also just say that the use of color in this show is staggering to me. evey episode is like some beautiful tapestry. the use and blending of colors is just awesome. maybe its the drugs, but i really respond to it.

Yes, Wonka. Yes he does. I've just done some marathon Rome-ing (thank god for On Demand).

Holy shit is this show good. Caesar reminds me a bit of Tony Soprano. A powerful man, who sometimes seems to want to do the right thing, and he may even forgive your transgressions once. But never, ever, cross him again (SPOILER for those who don't know their history (unless, of course, you're Brutus)).

Titus Pullo may be my favorite television character in the history of the world. Ray Stevenson is doing a great job there.

Now I've seen alot of shit, online. I'm pretty desensitized to that stuff.

But damn...all those guys clusterfuck stabbing Caesar was just surreal....Like they didn't fucking stop they just kept stabbing him, and when they stopped he was still alive till Brutus stabbed him. I knew based on what little of the old play I learned, that Brutus would betray Caesar at some point, but damn...

So Vernenus killed his wife, looks like Pullo will gain Eirene's forgiveness, Atia and family seem to be royally fucked, talk about a cliff hanger.

It's sad we got to wait till 2007 for new episodes, that's 1.2 years from now.........

Lucius Vorenus through out the Series is in his own way responsible for the f@te of Rome, not like Pullo who surrenders to f@te more and does things more instinctualy, Vorenus contiously makes decisions who's concequences are far reaching & change the future, now he's probably a character made up for the show but I like how Ceasar see's the gods working through him, and he's eventually the one who does something out of anger and instinct (It's always over a woman) and it allows Ceasars downfall to happen.

Who thinks Ceasar was a tyrant?

Anyway it's ultimately the two women behing the scenes pulling all the strings, with the help of the every serving slaves who see all & know all. Brutus was nothing but a pawn.

One thing, I think Atia will come up with one hell of a devious plan to get rid of Brutus' mother. Octavius will become emporer eventually I think, I'll check on Wikipedia.

Super duper spoilers from History, I'll put them in invisotext which is black.

Starting here: After Caesar's assassination a Second Triumvirate, consisting of Caesar's designated heir Octavian and his former supporters Mark Antony and Marcus Aemilius Lepidus, took power, but its members soon descended into a struggle for dominance. When Octavian defeated Antony and queen Cleopatra of Egypt at the Battle of Actium in 31 BC he became the undisputed master of Rome. He assumed almost absolute power while retaining the pretence of Republican form of goverment. His designated successor, Tiberius, took power without bloodshed.

Lord Voldemoo wrote:Looks like Rome Season 2 is in production as we speak. I was wondering about this the other day (last I'd heard, it was still in question) and finally got around to researching it:

Meanwhile, at Cinecitta, the Forum is being spruced up and helmets and leather bodices dusted prior to production kickoff of series two, April 10.

It is being shepherded by John Melfi ("Sex and the City""Sex And The City"), who takes over from Frank Doelger as executive producer, while Anthony Pratt has replaced Joseph Bennett as production designer.

Episodes one and two will be helmed by Timothy Van Patten and Allen CoulterAllen Coulter respectively, both of whom also worked on the first series.

Casting is underway in Britain for an older Octavian to take over from Max Pirkis.

And, while new plot elements are under wraps, Stamp said that Rome will become a desperate and anarchic place due to a famine. Epic will start with Caesar's funeral, have at least one big set-piece battle, and continue to feature lots of nudity.

Date in print: Mon., Mar. 27, 2006

Here's the full story, from Variety: ETA: bloody hell, here's a link that works...

HBO announced Wednesday that the second season of its epic series set in the time of Caesar will debut Jan. 7. At the same time, the network says next season will be the last for the show.

Filming on season two is currently taking place at the Cinecitta Studios in Rome and will wrap in October. Once that's done, though, the show -- a co-production with the BBC -- will call it quits.

HBO Chairman and CEO Chris Albrecht says that "Rome" was originally envisioned as a miniseries, but after seeing the quality of the first scripts the network and its partners (Italian broadcaster Rai was also involved) decided to go ahead with a full-blown show. However, after dealing with the logistics of shooting overseas and the high cost -- reports pegged the price tage for the first season at somewhere around $100 million -- HBO made the decision to pull the plug (the commitments of BBC and Rai were due to run out after the coming season as well).

The show's first-season ratings on HBO were decent (most episodes drew between 2 million and 3 million viewers) but not at the level of "The Sopranos" or, say, "Six Feet Under" in its prime. It did earn a fair share of critical praise and last week was nominated for eight Emmys.

The second season will pick up following the death of Julius Caesar. Most of the principal cast is scheduled to return, including Kevin McKidd, Polly Walker, Ray Stevenson, James Purefoy, Lindsay Duncan and Kerry Condon.

Brocktune wrote:ithey are so fucking hot that it feels like my cock is going to explode when i watch this show. i try to just get over it, but i cant.

after a three episode bender, I went and "saw" my girlfriend naked...TWICE!

my critical eye wants to take the show to task for being a mere knock-off of both The Sopranos and Deadwood, the constant deus ex machina machinations of both Lucius and Titus is annoying, THERE'S BEEN A DISTINCT LACK OF BUTT-SEX, every episode is the same thing (political intrigue, violence, religion, sex), but...BUT...

So I splurged/spooged and bought the Rome Season 1 DVDs (half price at Best Buy on Christmas Eve!).

I watched the first two episode's last night, and its not too shabby! I image it will only get better.

one (negative) comment I have is that I swear i heard the word "buggered" spoken by Mark Antony, which bothered me...

(PS there was a quick "who are they" featurette where some of the main actors talked about their characters, and the actress who plays Octavia has the UGLIEST IRISH ACCENT I've ever heard. I swear I wanted to rip her throat out)